Observation in Kaohsiung

January 11, 2012

The full ICFET Observation Mission travelled to southern Taiwan today, beginning in Kaohsiung. The mission paid visits to the Ma/Wu Kaohsiung Campaign Headquarters, where they were received by Deputy Campaign Director Tsang You-hsia (臧幼俠副總幹事). Observers exchanged views with Mr. Tsang on issues such as the election calendar (in particular, the impact of the merger of the two elections, and the schedule difficulties for students taking final exams), the unusually long transition period before the presidential inauguration, campaign finance, etc.

Asked about vote-buying allegations, Mr. Tsang stated that these were rumors spread by the opposition and that, although there have been arrests made for minor cases in some other parts of the country, vote-buying was not happening in Kaohsiung. He also responded to a question about the budget for the Kaohsiung campaign headquarters itself, which he said was quite limited, as evidenced by the relatively modest headquarters premises themselves.

Afterwards, the group visited the campaign headquarters of Kaohsiung District 7 legislative candidate Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), where they were received by campaign spokespersons Lin Chih-hung (林智鴻) and Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) Responding to the same questions about vote-buying and campaign expenditures, they stated that his campaign has established a task force to counter vote-buying or other malpractices, and they estimated his total campaign expenditure at NT$15,000,000. They also complained about the unfair advantage that their opponent enjoys with his unusually high degree of access to the national media (Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) is a perennial television talk show guest).

Mr. Chao arrived mid-way through the meeting, and described his efforts to encourage young people to vote, particularly through trying to run a non-traditional campaign, with more cultural and family-oriented activities. He claimed that his victory would represent a change in Taiwan’s election culture.

After concluding these visits in Kaoshiung, the mission proceeded to Tainan, where another round of visits to various campaign headquarters was scheduled, as well as observation of campaign rallies in the evening, before returning to Taipei.

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